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Sunday, November 29, 2009

Hi Blog readers, Susie-Q here, still living with the Happy Campers. I dodged the bullet again this week as Uncle Neil cancelled his trip to Laughlin in January, when Rex was going to have Uncle Neil remove my front claws. Guess I better be using the scratching post a little more often when I stretch after my cat naps.

I’ve turned into a “House Cat”, I just just don’t enjoy the great outdoors. Rex calls me a Scaredy Cat, and even leaves the screen door open on purpose to entice me outdoors. I sit on the step just to see what he’s doing outside, but don’t cross the threshold. He’s forced me outside a few times, but I just slip my collar and run inside the camper and hide from him.

Now that the winter weather has closed in I’ve found a couple of warm places to hang out. During the day it’s in front of the window with the sun shinning in.

In the evening I stretch out in front of the gas space heater.

The Happy Campers are gradually switching me off of kitten food and on to adult food as I weigh 7.5 pounds at 7 months old. I can just barely squeeze under the bathroom door when it’s closed.

.....Hannah and Renee had their dogs there, Sam looks so much like a deer that we keep him in blaze orange during the deer-hunting season.......
(Hannah too!!)

....Jake's dog Woody gets crazy around the chainsaw and has to stay in the truck. It is amazing to me that he simply does as he is told in spite of the fact that he obviously wants to get out of the truck..............

....Thank God the chain gets dull every now and then. We can take a break.....

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

I was going through the pictures of Chicago and I found I forgot one set of pictures I intended for a blog. They had blocked off a street and moved in a huge mobile crane. I have never seen one so large, yet still on a truck. They were using it to lift a large air-conditioning unit (built by Carrier) off a semi-truck and onto the top of a building about 40 stories tall. I will just let the pictures tell the story..........

.....this is what the crane truck looked like.

....this is a shot of our hotel, the Chicago Stock Exchange Building, taken up through the "El" track...........

Monday, November 23, 2009

There is an old kid's game called Jenga Blocks. The object is to remove blocks from a tower of blocks without crashing the tower.................

.....................We found it in giant or adult form at the neighborhood bar, "Streeter's", in Chicago. Here Renee is learning about the rules.............

.....The tower looks pretty shaky. In this game, $100 changes hands when the tower crashes. It weird what people call fun. We are in the middle of one of the entertainments capitals of the world. That $100 would buy a great deal of fun in a great number of crazy activities within blocks of there. Yet these guys choose to play a child’s game in a little tavern....................

....we are going to send the idea to a couple of local bar owners to see if they like it.......

....I leave you with this sunrise over Lake Michigan in Chicago. It is out our hotel window. I collect sunrises.

I am working on a blog about a remodeling project we have going now involving ripping out a wall.

Friday, November 20, 2009

SINCE OUR RETURN FROM CAYE CAULKER THERE HASN'T BEEN MUCH TO BLOG ABOUT. EVEN THE FALL "TO DO" LIST HAS BEEN ON THE BACK BURNER WITH THE BEGINNING OF WINTER WEATHER.

THE DAYS ARE STILL NICE AND WARM AND SUNNY, BUT THE OVER NIGHT LOWS DROP SIGNIFICANTLY. WE'VE BEEN HAPPY WITH OUR COZY MISTER HEATER WARMING UP THE CAMPER AFTER WORK. WE LIKE THE PORTABLE HEATER BECAUSE WE GET ALL THE HEAT FROM THE LP GAS INSIDE, UNLIKE THE INEFFICIENT LP GAS FURNACE ON THE CAMPER.

AT WORK, WE'VE BEEN DOING MORE LATE HOURS AND HAVE TO ADJUST TO GETTING OFF WORK AT 3AM - 4AM- 5AM IN THE MORNING. SO OUR DAILY SLEEP AND PLAY SCHEDULE HAS BEEN ADJUSTING.

THANKS TO UNCLE HANS FOR PICKING UP THE SLACK ON THE BLOG.

I NEED TO GET BACK TO MY "TO DO" LIST AND PROJECT LIST, AND QUIT PLAYING POKER ON MY LAPTOP.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

.....I hope your editor Rex can make these pictures look good. He is a whiz with a blogging program that is like "photoshop" Sometimes he even makes me look good in a picture (like the recent "camo shorts", for example). This is from 95 floors up in the Hancock building........

....What the Hell is this thing we found on the tables?.........

.......it's the weird shadow thrown on a menu on our table. The cut glass design on the candle holder makes "fingers" on the menu............

....I was trying to show you the ridiculous prices on the 95th floor. Our drinks cost $11.00!! In Spooner you can get sloppy drunk on $11.00 and still have money for the cab ride home (joking, we have no cab in Spooner! We just drive home drunk like everyone else). "We are not in Kansas anymore, Dorothy".........

.....The women's bathroom has a large window and you can sit on the toilet and enjoy the view. Renee was so inspired she wanted me to see it. She asked the group of women in there if it would be OK to have me come in for a look. They squealed their approval, laughing and giggling. She ran out and grabbed me, jerking me into the women's can. It was fun for a moment, but the bouncer saw me disappear in the can and came right in after me. "excuse me, SIR!............excuse me, SIR!". The women were laughing and shrieking. I, needless to say, missed the photo of the year..............
(but this is a picture of the terrific new style hand-dryer form the men's can..............I know, big whoop!)

.....OK. This is the same view as the women's can. It's just out another window......

.....this is another picture against the glass. It is not a trick "superimposed" double exposure, rather a reflected image with the background out the window. I'll leave you with that, but there is one or two more blogs of the Chicago trip........

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Renee and I made the trip into Chicago via Amtrak this past weekend. She had never done the train or been to Chicago as a destination. We got on the train in Tomah, Wisconsin. It is an "automated" station, which is a politically correct way of saying it is so small that no one actually works there. We had a little time "snafu" and arrived with only a few minutes to spare. You just loiter along the tracks at the depot and the train stops and swoops you up like a subway. No Check-in, no security, no agents,...........weird.......

....our room was at the Buckingham Athletic Club, the top floor of the Chicago Stock Exchange. It is a small hotel set up for brokers and businessmen during he week that is virtually unused on the weekend. It is right downtown, 4 blocks from Union Station (where Amtrak lands), two blocks from the Sears tower (now Called the Willis tower after some British guy who recently bought it), 4 blocks from State street, 6 block from Michigan avenue. Renee found it on Expedia and signed up because it was cheap. She won the lottery. This is the view out the window at night.......

......this is the view out of the lounge with some trick photography that turned out really well......

....we immediately set out for the "Miracle Mile", the downtown shopping area. This is State street.........

....People were collected around the windows at Macy's, which had just been uncovered for the holidays.........

....."Circ" was in town........

....Still, we found a little bar, like the kind we like, called Streeters. Amazing how a little neighborhood bar like this exists in the skyscraper area. It was a little pricey, but felt like home..........

......We proceeded to the top of the Hancock Building to have a drink at the top. I will continue with that on the next blog. I leave you with a close up photo, both these last two pictures were taken out of our hotel room window..............

THE HAPPY CAMPERS

WE STARTED THIS BLOG IN THE SPRING OF 2006 TO KEEP OUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS "UP TO SPEED" ON OUR DAILY LIVES, LIVING IN A 34 FOOT CAMPER. WE USE THE "HODGEPODGE" APPROACH TO BLOGGING AND INCLUDE WHAT WE'RE THINKING, GUEST ENTRIES, DAILY LIFE, CASINO STORIES, COOKING STORIES, TRAVEL STORIES, AND A GENEROUS PINCH OF BULLSHIT.MARY AND I SHARE IN THE WRITING OF THE BLOG, AND REX ALWAYS TYPES IN ALL CAPITAL LETTERS, SO YOU CAN TELL WHOM IS WRITING.

OUR WEATHER

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By Uncle Hans

BLOG ENTRIES WRITTEN BY "UNCLE HANS", ARE WRITTEN BY MY BROTHER HANS. HANS LOVES TO WRITE WHEN SO MOVED AND HAS JOINED OUR "TEAM" SO TO SPEAK. THANKS FOR THE BLOG ENTRIES "UNCLE HANS"!!!

Uncle Hans and Renee

REX AND UNCLE HANS

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